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Admiral Ackbar has a warning for the Green Bay Packers

It’s finally here. The weekend many of us Packers bloggers and fans have been waiting for: Throwback Weekend! No clue what I am talking about? Look here for all the details from our friends at CheeseheadTV.

Lost amongst all the hype for the festivities is that there is an actual game to be played at Lambeau Field on Sunday! The 5-0 defending world champion Green Bay Packers take on the 0-4 St. Louis Rams.  The Packers will be wearing their 1929 throwback jerseys that they wore against the 49ers last season, hence why it is called “Throwback Weekend.”

Last Week in Review

The Packers got off to sluggish start against the Atlanta Falcons on national television, trailing 14-6 at the half.   After the break however, the defense came alive and Aaron Rodgers kept doing his thing as the Packers shut out Atlanta in the second half and won 25-14.  Rodgers completed 26 of 39 for 396 yards and two touchdowns while throwing to 12 (12!) different receivers.

The Rams mercifully had their bye week.

Rams players to watch

QB Sam Bradford  Read more... (1108 words + 1 image, estimated 4:26 mins reading time)

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Tracking the free agent status of Packers released this offseason, with the exception of Al Harris, who was released during the 2010 season.

 S Derrick Martin: SIGNED WITH GIANTS  

UPDATE: Martin and the New York Giants agreed to a one-year contract on Monday, August 15. 

The Packers released Martin on March 3.

Despite being an important special teams contributor, the Packers let go of Martin early in the offseason. Injuries likely played into the decision, as Martin suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Washington Redskins.

Little has surfaced about team’s potential interest in Martin, but I’d be shocked if he didn’t find a team for 2011.

LB Brady Poppinga: SIGNED WITH ST. LOUIS RAMS 

The Packers released Poppinga on July 29.

UPDATE: Poppinga has reportedly agreed to a deal with the St. Louis Rams and was observing Rams practice on Tuesday night. He should get a chance to start at outside linebacker for St. Louis.

Much like Tauscher, Poppinga had similar factors working against him.

At 32 years old and coming off an ACL injury, Poppinga was due $2.34 million in 2011. For a guy that was going to be a backup and play primarily on special teams, that price tag was way too rich for the Packers liking.  Read more... (1021 words + 16 images, estimated 4:05 mins reading time)

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Since we took a look at the Packers offense and Steelers defense the other day, let’s “do the Favre” and flip flop.

In part two, we’ll be looking at the matchup between Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers offense against Clay Matthews and the Green Bay Packers defense. While to some it may not be intriguing as the opposite matchup, this battle still obviously play a big role into which team walks away with the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday night.

Pittsburgh Steelers offense

Much like the Packers, most of the attention on the offensive side of the ball for the Steelers is focused on their quarterback.

Roethlisberger, who missed the first four games of the season due to a suspension for his alleged role in a potential sexual assault case, plays a game very similar to the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers.

Oh, and with a couple notable differences: Big Ben is a bigger player and more powerful. Where Rodgers will burn you with pure finesse, Roethlisberger will beat you sheer power and brawn. In a situation where Rodgers will slide, Roethlisberger will barrel over a cornerback to get those precious few extra yards.  Read more... (1222 words + 1 image, estimated 4:53 mins reading time)

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The Green Bay Packers defeated the Chicago Bears 10-3 last Sunday at Lambeau Field to lock down a wild card berth for the second consecutive season.

The Packers enter the playoffs as the number six seed, but in a conference that features a 7-9 division champion, any team could come out of the NFC and head to Super Bowl XLV.

The first stop for the Packers on the road to Dallas is in Philadelphia for an encore match against the Eagles. In the first game of the regular season, the Packers beat the Eagles 27-20 after knocking then-starting quarterback for the Eagles Kevin Kolb out of the game and giving Michael Vick the opportunity to write one of the great comeback stories in NFL history.

Looking back at that game, the Packers had the Eagles well under control until Vick came into the game. He nearly led the Eagles back, but a couple well-timed sacks stopped the comeback just short and the Packers held on the victory.

With an entire week to game plan for Vick, will the Packers fare better against the elusive Eagles quarterback?

Breaking down the Eagles  Read more... (1372 words + 1 image, estimated 5:29 mins reading time)

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Green Bay Packers 31, Minnesota Vikings 3. AT the  Metrodome. Brett Favre considering early retirement (even if it was in a joking manner). Brad Childress pushed to the brink of unemployment. Vikings fighting amongst themselves and totally humiliated. For Packers fans, does it get any sweeter than this?

Well, let’s find out.

Submitted for your approval (or disapproval), here are my picks for the top five most satisfying Packers victories of the last decade:

5. Packers 42, Seahawks 20, January 12, 2008 NFC Divisional Playoffs

Ah, the “Snow Globe Game.” Also Favre’s final victory as a Packer.

The game started off poorly with two fumbles by Ryan Grant and the Seahawks, led by former Packers coach Mike Holmgren and former Packers backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, jumping out to an early 14-0 lead. It looked like the postseason struggles of the Mike Sherman regime had spilled over to successor Mike McCarthy. Or maybe not.

Favre played his last truly great cold weather game and Packers offense exploded to lead the team to a 42-20 victory. Grant more than made up for his early mistakes and carried the ball very well in a heavy snowstorm.  Read more... (893 words + 1 image, estimated 3:34 mins reading time)

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I just finished arguing with my dad about Brad Childress. My dad blames all of the Vikings’ problems on Childress. I am not a Childress defender, but I contend that blaming Childress for all of the Vikings’ problems is a convenient way for the players, many of whom are considered among the best at their respective positions, to not take responsibility for their ineptitude.

My dad says that it is up to the coach to get the most out of his players, and that if the players underperform, it is the coach’s fault and he should be fired. I think that’s letting multi-millionaire players off the hook a little too easy, but both of us are technically right. Of course, the whole argument got me thinking about the Packers and Mike McCarthy.

I’ve taken my shots at McCarthy for his playcalling this season. I was also critical of his decision to go for the touchdown on 4^thand goal from the 1-yard line against the Redskins. It is common for people to criticize the coach for his playcalling or in-game decisions. It happens all the time and it comes with the territory for any coach.  Read more... (785 words + 1 image, estimated 3:08 mins reading time)

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Who can forget the look on Matt Hasselbeck’s face as Al Harris runs by him to clinch the “we want the ball, and we’re going to score” game in the 2003 playoffs.  Fast forward 7 years and the Packers have released the pro bowl corner and he is now playing for the Miami Dolphins.  As is often with nostalgia, it often clouds judgment; no one wants to remember the bad, so we typically only remember the good.  People wanted to keep Aaron Kampman, a fan favorite, even though he never managed to transition into a 3-4 OLB; in the end both parties recognized that it was in the best interest for Kampman to leave for free agency (and he seems to be doing fine with 4 sacks in Jacksonville). Hopefully in this article I will set out a rationale for why it was in the best interest of the Packers and Al Harris for him to be waived.

1.     Age: probably the most important factor for the Packers. At age 35 Al Harris is already a decade older than the average NFL player and like running backs, corner backs typically do not get better with age.  Older players often lose their top end speed as well, and Harris was never that fast to begin with so it only compounds the problem.  Read more... (1254 words, estimated 5:01 mins reading time)

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